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Low-Cost Marketing With Business
Postcards
Copyright 2004 Bob Leduc
Modern, low-cost business postcards can drive a high
volume
of traffic to your web site, generate a flood of new
sales
leads, or promote any other business activity you want.
They
are easy to use, cost very little and produce results
almost
immediately.
Brief And Personal Works Best
Keep the message on your postcard brief. Announce a major
benefit. Then ask the person reading the postcard to
visit
your web site or respond in some other way to get more
information.
Set up your postcard to look like a personal message
instead
of a sales promotion. Prospects cannot resist reading a
postcard if looks like a brief personal message - even
when
they quickly recognize it as a business communication.
This
happens for several reasons.
1. Your message on a postcard arrives already opened and
ready to read.
2. It creates the feeling of reading a note from a friend
instead of reading an advertisement.
3. Your brief message cannot be overlooked - even by
people
quickly screening their mail over a wastebasket.
Nearly everybody will actually read your postcard
....intentionally or unintentionally. Therefore, you will
get
the maximum number of responses.
Simple And Low-Cost
You can print postcards with your own computer for about
1
cent each or have them printed professionally for about 7
or
8 cents each.
One cost-effective method when using your computer is to
print four postcards on an 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet of
standard
index paper. Then cut each sheet into quarters to produce
four 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch postcards. 100 sheets will
produce
400 postcards for about 1 cent each.
For small quantities, print your postcards individually
on
the 4 x 6 inch blank index cards available from any
office
supply store.
Reduced Postage Rate
The current postage for mailing a postcard in the US is
just
23 cents. That's almost 40 percent less than the postage
for
sending a letter - yet the Postal Service processes
postcards the same as First Class Mail letters.
To qualify for this special postage rate, your postcard
must
be at least 3 1/2 inches high by 5 inches long but not
over
4 1/4 inches high by 6 inches long. The paper thickness
must
be similar to an index card. All office supply stores
carry
paper designated as 67 pound card stock. This is ideal
for
postcards and it meets the thickness requirement.
Non-Us Advantage: Business postcards used outside of the
US
do not enjoy a reduced postage rate. But, non-US business
owners tell me their postcards are very cost-effective
even
without a reduced postage rate. Since postcards are
rarely
used for business purposes outside of the US, they attract
a
lot of attention and generate a high rate of response.
Hidden From Competitors
Postcard marketing enables you to conceal your marketing
efforts from competitors. Nearly all other advertising
uses
mass media where your competitors hear or see what you
are
doing - and copy it.
Postcard marketing is personal. Only you and your
prospects
are aware of your strategy. And only you know how
effective
it is. When competitors become aware of your postcard
marketing program, they will not be able to evaluate your
activity. And they will not know how to copy it.
Postcards achieve almost 100 percent readership and
generate
a high rate of response. Use them to drive traffic to
your
web site, to generate sales leads, or to promote any
other
business activity you want. You can create and send
postcards within a few days of deciding to use them. And
you
will enjoy the results they produce in less than a week.
Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours
find
new customers and increase sales. He just released a New
Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business
Fast
With Simple Postcards ...and launched *BizTips from Bob*,
a
newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper.
You'll
or call: 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas,
NV
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